Photograph by: Ric Ernst
, Canwest news Service

VANCOUVER — One step more. It’s all Kevin Martin ever wanted to take.

Just 30 centimetres or so in height, but eight years, countless practice rocks, countless hours in the gym, and, yes, countless questions from naysayers in the making — it all made it that much sweeter for the 43-year-old Edmonton skip to finally take that step, to the top of the men’s curling medal podium, Saturday night at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.

Accompanied by third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy, lead Ben Hebert and fifth player Adam Enright, Martin answered every question that had followed his loss in the 2002 Olympic final by beating Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud 6-3.

“That,” said a jubilant Martin afterwards, “was a big game. Honestly, it was. We wanted to get that one step higher on the podium. All the other stuff was done. And it feels really good.”

It should, and Martin can now fairly stake his claim among the greatest curlers ever as a four-time Canadian champ to go along with world and Olympic titles.

“Kevin’s unbelievable,” said Kennedy. “The amount he’s put into this sport, probably more than anyone else — he did it all for these reason. We’re really proud of him. He put together a plan for all of us and we stuck with it for four years, and it’s come to fruition. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s the best player to ever play. And he just topped himself today.”

Morris is in the discussion, too, having made history as the only player to win world junior and men’s titles as well as Olympic gold (Hebert also did it, but as an alternate at the world juniors).

But this was Martin’s night.

He never trailed Saturday, building a 3-0 lead through five tentative ends during which Morris needed to bail him out of some trouble, making a triple takeout in the second end to get the packed house into the game, then followed up with tough double takeouts in the fourth and fifth ends that led directly to Canadian steals.

Fittingly, though, it was Martin who delivered the shot of the game — a clutch freeze in the seventh end that Ulsrud couldn’t pry out, and Martin made the open draw for two, and it was just a matter of time before he finally got to experience the complete and utter joy that accompanies an Olympic gold medal.

“I’m pretty sure (Martin) didn’t want another silver in that trophy case at home, so it was nice to get that gold medal for him,” said Morris, who paused before throwing a shot in the 10th end to savour the sound of more than 5,000 fans doing an a cappella version of O Canada. “We put a lot of hard work in over the last four years, and it was great that it’s paid off.”

It was Norway, of course, that beat Martin’s old team in the Salt Lake final, and Norway’s skip that day, Pal Trulsen, was sitting behind the scoreboard as Norway’s national coach. And it was Trulsen who was among the first people to give Martin a hug after the handshakes.

“The boys (Ulsrud’s team) should be proud of the whole week,” said Trulsen. “They met one of the best teams in the history of curling today.”

While the focus was on Martin, and justifiably so, the gamble he made in 2006 by replacing his Salt Lake team with a group of relative youngsters paid off handsomely on Saturday. Hebert and Kennedy continue to establish themselves as one of the finest front ends in the sport’s history, while Morris’s stock, already lofty, took another spike upwards.

And none of it came easily.

“You see your families and realize the time and sacrifice you put in,” said Kennedy of his time on the podium. “It’s tough (to contain your emotions), but it’s just a lot of joy and a lot of relief. And you get tingles, jitters up the spine. The one thought that goes through my mind is, I don’t think it gets better than this. Up three coming home, home crowd, the Olympic Games, and they’re singing the anthem — it just doesn’t get any better. I don’t know how I’m going to top this. I might have to retire.”

Well, that’s not going to happen any time soon, vowed Martin. There was a victory to savour Saturday night (“It’s going to be a good night,” said a smiling Morris), a possible hockey game to attend Sunday, and a lifetime of memories to savour.

“I’m not sure if it could be better (than he’d hoped for), but it might have been,” said Martin, who finished off the win in the 10th end with a takeout. “When (he saw) that rock was about to make contact, that’s as good of a feeling as you get. All the hard work, it all comes to fruition.”

Photograph by: Ric Ernst, Canwest news Service

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